The new system is for pharmacy dispensing at all of Tasmania’s public hospitals, but will also provide a single, state-wide repository of information on patient medications, enabling the DHHS to build common patient medication profiles and apply common business rules. Based on iSOFT’s i.Pharmacy solution, it will offer intuitive decision support to prevent medication errors and enable the delivery of medication at the bedside through web-based information. It also caters for public hospital dispensing of Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) prescriptions, PBS online claiming and reimbursements, non-PBS prescriptions and integrated dispensing, manufacturing and enterprise inventory management. Future plans include full electronic prescribing and electronic administration.

i.Pharmacy is already installed at 218 sites throughout Australia, making it the country’s market-leading hospital pharmacy system.

DHHS Tasmania’s Chief Information Officer, Max Gentle, said: “iSOFT is offering significant experience and a proven ability to implement comprehensive state-wide patient administration and pharmacy management systems.  It has a clear understanding of key business processes, healthcare delivery and how information will support our future aspirations.  iSOFT’s patient administration and pharmacy system will be the cornerstone of our strategy for a full electronic patient record.”